Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies
- The Ever Given once stuck in the Suez Canal is in an artificial lake with its 18,000 containers.
- The giant container ship is awaiting a hull inspection that will decide if it can continue sailing.
- In the meantime, a backlog of 422 ships has resumed traffic in the Suez Canal.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Three days after the Ever Given container ship was dislodged from the Suez Canal, it remains anchored in an artificial lake, its future route uncertain.
The ship, operated by the Evergreen Marine Corporation, had been en route to Rotterdam, Netherlands, when it ran aground in the canal on March 23. It remained wedged horizontally for six days, blocking a major global shipping route and becoming an international spectacle.
A spokesperson for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, told Insider the ship is due for a "hull inspection" and will remain in the Great Bitter Lake until it's completed.
Evergreen said in a statement that the upcoming inspection "will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service" to Rotterdam.
In the meantime, traffic along the Suez Canal has resumed, though the Suez Canal Authority chairman told reporters on Monday the backlog of 422 ships would take several days to clear.
Another satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a line of ships steadily making their way down the canal on March 31:
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies
The Ever Given initially got stuck in the canal due to high winds from a sandstorm. It was ultimately freed thanks to a combination of dredging operations that removed the sand and mud from underneath the ship's hull, and tugboats that pulled and pushed the ship into position.
The vessel is one of the world's largest container ships - it's roughly the same length as the Empire State Building and can carry up to 20,000 containers. The debacle cost the global economy an estimated $400 million per hour.